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Fire Season Regulations

Fire season is not in effect on lands protected by the Oregon Dept. of Forestry's Southwest Oregon District. All public regulated use and industrial fire prevention regulations have been removed.

The district protects 1.8 million acres of state, private, county, city and Bureau of Land Management forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties.

Open burning of woody debris in piles and burn barrels is allowed. However, many structural fire protection districts require a burn permit, and county air quality burning advisories must be followed. Before burning, call:

Josephine County Open Burning Advisory: (541) 476-9663

Jackson County Open Burning Advisory: (541) 776-7007

For more information, contact the ODF Southwest Oregon District unit offices:Medford Unit

To report a fire: Dial 911. Be prepared to tell the dispatcher who you are, where
the fire is located, and how to contact you. Do not hang up until the
dispatcher asks you to. For more information about emergency reporting, see the
Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon website.

To
ensure you'll know about an emergency in your area: Sign up for Citizen Alert, a Jackson County notification system which
helps local officials to provide you with critical information quickly when a
fire, flood, earthquake or other emergency occurs.

For
wildfire prevention regulations on other southern Oregon state and private
forestlands:

It is not just steel core. Steel jacketed, copper jacketed and solid copper bullets have all been proven capable of starting a fire under the right conditions based on recent research conducted by the Forest Service at their Missoula Fire Laboratory. http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_rp104.pdfRelatively rare, but statistically high enough odds that I cease all target shooting at my house in early May....

I can't believe that one is allowed to mow dead grass in a field where everything is bone dry at this time of year. We just had a fire nearby. The rules don't even stipulate a requirement of at least having a shovel and hose ready. Common sense should prevail but some either don't care or get it. All mowing of dried grass should be closed right after the 4Th of July.

Candy, in ODF's Southwest Oregon District, power equipment use isn't allowed right now on state, county, private and BLM lands in Jackson and Josephine counties. ODF's fire prevention regulations do not apply to most properties inside the city limits of Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass. Also, the power equipment restrictions don't apply to the use of a power mower on a green lawn, or to equipment used on a farm to harvest a crop.

Public chain saw use is completely shut down until some rain falls in southwest Oregon. You can request a waiver by calling the ODF nearest to you (Central Point, (541) 664-3328 or Grants Pass, (541) 474-3152). An ODF forest officer will visit your property and determine whether to issue a waiver.